Review - Loud Lula

Loud Lula
by Katy S. Duffield
illustrated by Mike Boldt
Date: 2015
Publisher: Two Lions
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: Amazon.ca

Lula may be a pint-sized gal, but she’s got a BIG ol’ voice!

Since her birth, Lula’s LOUD voice has wreaked ten kinds of havoc across Pryor County, disrupting humans and animals alike. Lula’s parents are worried: What’s going to happen when Lula starts school? Will Lula ever learn to use her “inside voice”? But when Lula spots something sinister making its way toward town, it seems that she may have found just the right use for that BIG ol’ voice after all. With a text chock-full of Southern charm and silly digital illustrations that bring this tall tale to life, kids will giggle at the antics of the unforgettable LOUD Lula.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Well, this is just plain ol' dumb. Loud Lula is the story of a future social pariah whose parents have allowed her to become the most blisteringly annoying child in town.

The child must have some sort of disorder. Maybe she can't hear properly, so she thinks she needs to shout. Maybe she has an auditory processing disorder. Maybe it's something else. But the fact that her parents just sort of ignore the problem for five years and then send her off to school (prompting the teacher to consider retirement) is just annoying. When they sent her to school for the first time, we're told that her father wanted to tell her to be quiet. But he didn't. Why not? Was he afraid of crushing her spirit? Unfortunately, by not teaching this child anything, the parents have created a public menace.

The rest of the story is just stupid. Fire doesn't retreat from sound, so Lula's saving of the town makes no sense. And while I don't usually mind if local speech patterns are used to add some cultural flavour, I thought that writing the whole story (and not just the dialogue) in that way was a bit much.

The illustrations are sort of cute, but I was too annoyed with Lula (and the permissive attitude of her parents) to really enjoy much about this book.

I can't even imagine how obnoxious this would be as an audiobook...

Premise: 1/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 2/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 1.83 out of 5

Review - Imagine That

Imagine That (Hoot & Olive)
by Jonathan D. Voss
Date: 2019
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: library

Beloved characters Hoot and Olive return in this beautiful picture book about imagination, rainy day adventures, and the spirit of friendship.

Olive is a little girl with a big, bright imagination. Hoot is her stuffed-animal owl…and her best friend. The two love adventures of all sorts. But on the rainiest of days, there is only one thing to do: stay inside and imagine a whole new world.

Just as they’re about to begin their adventure, Hoot makes a shocking discovery—his imagination is broken! Like the best of best friends, Olive comes up with some ideas to help him. But nothing is working: not the head unscrambler, the earmuffs, or the hypnosis. Just as the two are about to give up, Olive remembers the secret ingredient to imagination, and they give it one more try.

Fans of Winnie-the-Pooh and Christopher Robin, George and Martha, and Frog and Toad are certain to fall in love with the next adventure in the Hoot & Olive series.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is the second book about Hoot and Olive, and I actually like it even better than the first! While Brave Enough for Two was about bravery and friendship, Imagine That is about imagination and perseverance.

On a rainy day, Olive and Hoot decide to imagine themselves an adventure. The only problem is, Hoot can't seem to do it. His imagination appears to be missing. Olive tries various ways to help him (including, hilariously, equipping him with a colander hat as an imagination antenna). But nothing works, and Hoot gets discouraged... until Olive reminds him that imagination requires a very important component...

The illustrations here are adorable. Olive's attempts to help Hoot with his imagination issues have him looking like a deranged alien moth. Voss also somehow manages to make a simply drawn stuffed animal have amazing facial expressions.

I really like this series! There are only two books so far, but I hope there will be more to come. Hoot and Olive are too cute.

Quotable moment:

Premise: 5/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4.5 out of 5

Review - Brave Enough for Two

Brave Enough for Two (Hoot & Olive)
by Jonathan D. Voss
Date: 2018
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: library

In the spirit of Goodnight Moon and The Night Gardener comes a heartwarming picture book about friendship that is sure to become a classic from debut author-illustrator Jonathan D. Voss.

Olive is a little girl who likes the types of adventures that exist in books. Her best friend Hoot, a stuffed-animal owl, prefers the ones that take place in the real world. Today, Hoot gets to pick the adventures. At first, Olive isn't sure if she's brave enough for the activities Hoot has picked: flying a makeshift hot-air balloon and navigating raging rivers. But when her dearest friend gets hurt, Olive discovers that she's not only brave, she's brave enough for two.

Told with whimsical text and filled with bold, captivating illustrations, Brave Enough for Two is the story of a little girl, her stuffed-animal owl, and their loving friendship.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I don't know that I'd compare this one to Goodnight Moon. It actually reminds me more of Winnie-the-Pooh.

Olive (a human girl) and Hoot (a stuffed toy owl) are best friends. While Olive prefers her adventures to be those she reads in books, Hoot's preferences are a little more... real. One day, he takes her out on a great adventure. They get into a balloon-lifted basket that flies them high over the countryside. After they land, Hoot pushes the basket into a river and they ride the rapids. These dangerous activities are faced with some trepidation on Olive's part, but when Hoot gets scared after a mishap, it's up to Olive to reassure her friend that she's there for him.

The story is simple, but the illustrations are really lovely. There's a combination of full-colour pictures (like what you see on the cover), along with more simple sepia-toned drawings. Together, along with the poetic writing, they create a gentle story that has the feeling of some of the old classic children's books.

This is a sweet book about friendship and kindness that shows the reader that, even though we might have our differences, there are some feelings that we all share.

Quotable moment:

Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4.33 out of 5

Review - Juji'jk: Mi'kmaw Insects

Juji'jk: Mi'kmaw Insects
by Tripartite Forum Culture & Heritage Education Committee
illustrated by Gerald Gloade & Evangeline Dedam
Date: 2019
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book non-fiction
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

The English language is noun-based, referring to people, places, and things. Juji'jk, an illustrated bilingual guide to bugs and insects in Atlantic Canada, showcases the beautiful verb-based Mi'kmaw language. Featuring vibrant artwork and concise, fascinating descriptions, Juji'jk will have you searching out "the one that looks like a little owl" (moth) and "the one that sings before she bites you" (mosquito).

Created to promote and preserve the Mi'kmaw language, this book includes a pronunciation guide, a Mi'kmaw-English matching game, and an abridged version of the Smith-Francis orthography.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Oh, dear. What a disappointment this one was! It's such a shame when books like this aren't of great quality. The goal of promoting and preserving these languages is laudable. But when a non-fiction picture book is so chaotic, confusing, and unpleasant to look at, it kind of works against itself.

This is presumably for children, and yet it starts off with a wordy note explaining that, while English is a noun-based language, Mi'kmaw is a verb-based language. It then goes on to say that, if a Mi'kmaw word doesn't create a visual image, it is "contaminated or corrupt". This is ironic, considering that some of the words included in this book don't immediately create a visual image (at least, not in my mind).

The next thing we're treated to is one of the most confusing pronunciation guides I've ever seen, based on the Smith-Francis Orthography (which is probably not something that the audience for this book knows anything about). The very first letter is A, pronounced as in "amen". Now, I've heard that word pronounced as both AY-men and AH-men, so the pronunciation guide isn't off to a very good start. It just gets more confusing from there, as we're apparently supposed to be able to hear a difference between the O sound in "also" and "go", as well as subtle variations in the sound of letters like L, M, and N. It appears that we need a linguistics degree to read this book... and we haven't even gotten to the main part yet!

The bulk of the book is pictures of insects paired with Mi'kmaw words, their English equivalents, and definitions. I had no idea how to pronounce most of those words, and I wasn't about to flip back and forth to that pronunciation guide (especially on a digital ARC). But, guess what? You don't even need to. There's a pronunciation guide for all the words at the end of the book. Why those pronunciations weren't included on the actual pages with the words is beyond me; that seems like the logical place to put them.

Some of the Mi'kmaw words are very descriptive. Nismisqanaw is the word for "cocoon", and it means "comes from something that looks like dry skin". Other words, however, are much more vague. Mimikej is the word for "butterfly", and it simply means "the beautiful one". (That doesn't exactly create a visual image in my mind. Has that word been "contaminated"?) So it's a mixed bag. Then again, the book completely abandons the format on the page for spiders. So focused is it on telling us the singular and plural for the Mi'kmaw terms that it completely leaves out the definition! Awo'kejit means "spider"... but there's nothing to give me that visual image that's apparently so important.

The illustrations are pretty weak. There are credits for many of the images, so I'm not sure what the illustrators actually did here. The pictures are a combination of drawings and photographs, so there's no real cohesive look to the book. There's also a rather scary page that shows a woodlouse and a June bug depicted as the same size as a beaver!

The last few pages are taken up with blank pages for notes and sketches, an English/Mi'kmaw term matching game, and the pronunciation guide for all the words in the book (which, as I said before, really needed to be incorporated into the main text). Out of 40 pages, only 26 contain the actual illustrated Mi'kmaw words.

When I read a book that purports to teach an aspect of language to young readers, I expect that book to be clear, engaging, and fun to read. This book is, unfortunately, none of those things. I expect that it will have the most value for children who are actively learning the Mi'kmaw language, who will have someone who can help them with pronunciation and can, hopefully, tell them what awo'kejit actually means (I still don't know)!

Thank you to NetGalley and Nimbus Publishing for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 2/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 2/5
Illustrations: 1/5
Originality: 2/5

Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 1.5 out of 5

Review - Joe Quinn's Poltergeist

Joe Quinn's Poltergeist
by David Almond
illustrated by Dave McKean
Date: 2019
Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
Reading level: YA
Book type: graphic novel
Pages: 80
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

There's a poltergeist in Joe Quinn's house, and Davie is determined to discover its source in this lively, hopeful graphic storybook from David Almond and Dave McKean.

Joe Quinn has been telling everyone about the poltergeist in his house, but no one believes him. No one, that is, except Davie. Davie's felt the inexplicable presence in the Quinns' house and seen random objects fly through the air. And there's something else... a memory of Davie's beloved sister and a feeling deep down that it might just be possible for ghosts to exist. Full of thoughts of hauntings and grief and God, Davie hovers on a precipice of uncertainty and possibility, a space that storyteller David Almond occupies comfortably and returns to again and again -- here paired once more with the dynamic, dreamlike mixed-media art of Dave McKean.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I thought I'd like this one more than I did. If the artwork within had been more like what's on the cover, I think I would have. The inside, however, is mostly rough-looking drawings combined with a bit of photographic collage and painted backgrounds.

The story is also a little thin for me. The explanation for the poltergeist, while plausible, isn't that interesting. This book is more about the characters than the story, really.

This appears to be marketed as a "graphic storybook" for children, but it's really more of a short graphic novel for young adults. The themes are heavy, some of the plot points are rather mature, and the inclusion of local slang could make this a tricky book for younger readers.

I suppose I was expecting something more fanciful and supernatural, especially from this duo. I found it neither "lively" nor "hopeful", as was promised by the synopsis; it is instead rather dreary and gritty, with some fairly creepy behaviour on the part of the adults in the story. At its heart, Joe Quinn's Poltergeist is just a coming-of-age sort of story about the chaotic emotions of teenage boys.

Perhaps I'm just not the right audience for this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for providing a digital ARC.

Plot: 2/5
Characters: 3/5
Pace: 2/5
Writing & Editing: 3/5
Illustration: 2/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall Rating: 2.38 out of 5 ladybugs

Review - Norman's Gift

Norman's Gift
by Michelle Olson
Date: 2019
Publisher: Bellie Button Books
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: author

Norman the Button has forgotten to get his best friend a Christmas gift, and time is running out. With big dreams and a small budget, he sets out to find the perfect gift to show his love for Freddy. But when his extravagant gift ideas don’t work out, he must settle for something made from the heart.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I'm always a little hesitant when I read self-published picture books now. So many of them simply lack the quality that makes for a really good read. When I was approached by the author with an offer to let me have a look at her newest book about Norman the button, I was a bit worried. But after seeing some of the reviews of the first book from trusted Goodreads friends, I felt a little better. As it turns out, I didn't really need to be worried. Norman's Gift is surprisingly good.

This is a cute holiday story about Norman and his quest to find the perfect Christmas gift for his best friend, Freddy Teddy. He thinks it needs to be something spectacular to show Freddy how much their friendship means to him. But after exhausting his piggy bank and still coming up with nothing suitable, Norman has to turn to his own special talents and make his friend a gift from the heart.

The writing is pretty strong and tells the simple story nicely. The illustrations are pretty entertaining, too. (I suspect I missed how Norman and Freddy met in the first book, but you can read Norman's Gift and get a lot out of it without knowing the backstory.) Norman and Freddy inhabit our world, but there's also overlap with the world of toys. Norman lives in a dollhouse, for example. The pictures are mostly photographs, with touches of illustration. I just realized that Norman doesn't have any facial features other than eyes; still, he manages to convey a full range of emotions through just his eyes and eyebrows!

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised. Norman's Gift is a sweet holiday story highlighting friendship and thoughtfulness. This is one self-published picture book that I can feel comfortable recommending.

Thank you to Michelle Olson for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 3.83 out of 5

Review - Vampire Baby

Vampire Baby
by Kelly Bennett
illustrated by Paul Meisel
Date: 2013
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: hardcover
Source: library

When Tootie gets her first teeth, it’s clear to her big brother that she’s no ordinary baby. But how to convince Mom and Dad?

It happens overnight: little sister Tootie goes from cuddly, ga-ga-googoo, I-want-my-ba-ba baby...vampire baby. Now she’s sinking her pointy fangs into everything — furniture, toys, and especially her big brother ("Youch, Tootie! No bite!" ). Mom insists that it’s just a phase, but Tootie’s brother knows better. Just look at her hairline! Or the fact that all her favorite foods are bloodred! With perfect comic timing, Kelly Bennett and Paul Meisel give a fresh slant to the new-baby story, proving that even monstrous little arrivals have a funny way of staking their siblings’ affections.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This book sounds a lot cuter than it actually is. It reminded me a bit of Maureen Wright's Anna and the Tooth Fairy, in that both books have children with baby siblings that they believe are supernatural creatures. In Vampire Baby, however, there isn't that much of a story. Just lots of biting.

When baby Tootie (who names their kid Tootie?!) gets her first teeth, they're not the cute little baby teeth that most infants get. No, Tootie gets her canines. And she uses them. She eats the newspaper. She chews on the dog's toys. And, most troublesome of all, she bites her brother. The baby has a weird hairline, so added to the fangs, it's enough to convince the kid that his baby sister is a vampire. Tired of the biting, he takes her to a store, sticks a sign on her, and tries to give her away to a vampire family (who just happen to be doing their grocery shopping). But when Tootie bites one of them and gets yelled at, the boy comes to his sister's defense. Then everything's good.

There's not much of a resolution. Tootie's apparently still biting, and is probably still a vampire (which could lead to some uncomfortable questions for Mom; was there some vampire hanky-panky her husband doesn't know about?). Why the boy decides that it's now okay to have a biting vampire in the family isn't really explained. I guess what I'm saying is that the premise and setup are fun... but the execution and plot are a bit lacking.

The illustrations are cute, but nothing special. I like the family of stereotypical vampires the boy meets at the store. Other than that, though, the pictures aren't really memorable.

A story about a vampire baby seems like it should be pretty fun. Unfortunately, the idea in this case is better than the actual book. Two better children's books about vampires that I've read recently are Asiago by Adam McHeffey and Vlad the Rad by Brigette Barrager. And if you're looking for books about kids mistaking their siblings for magical creatures, I'd recommend Anna and the Tooth Fairy instead.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.17 out of 5